Pressure-sensitive adhesive tapes are virtually ubiquitous in the home and workplace. In its simplest configuration, a pressure-sensitive adhesive tape comprises an adhesive and a backing, and the overall construction is tacky at the use temperature and adheres to a variety of substrates using only moderate pressure to form the bond. In this fashion, pressure-sensitive adhesive tapes constitute a complete, self-contained bonding system.
There are a wide variety of pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) materials available today that include natural crude or synthetic rubbers, block copolymers, and (meth)acrylic-based polymeric compositions. (Meth)acrylic-based PSAs in particular have been the focus of a great deal of development over the last half century as the performance demands for PSAs have increased. (Meth)acrylic-based PSAs may be closely tailored to provide a number of desired attributes such as elasticity, tackiness, transparency, resistance to oxidation and sunlight, etc., as well as to have the necessary degree of adhesion and cohesion for demanding tape applications. The (meth)acrylic-based PSAs are usually (meth)acrylic ester PSAs, which are also referred to as (meth)acrylate PSAs or PSA (meth)acrylates. That is, these PSAs include a poly(meth)acrylate material.